by April Fire
“You’re not going to end up happy like this, you know,” Grandma snapped. And then, a voice cut over the top of her.
“I’m going to do my best to make sure that’s not true.”
The entire table turned around, and I could see all of them squinting with recognition as they saw who was standing there.
“Jones?” I whispered into the silence. He smiled at me, and offered me a hand.
“I heard pretty much everything,” he looked around the table angrily, “that you said to the mother of my child. And I think it’s bullshit.”
A few eyebrows shot up, but I didn’t care -- I couldn’t take my eyes off Jones.
“She doesn’t have to raise this baby by herself,” he went on. “And even if she did, she’d do an amazing job at it. She’s an incredible person, and I won’t have you sit here and look down on her for the choices she’s made.”
I’d never heard my family as silent as they were at that moment- it was almost funny. A small smile curled on to the corners of my mouth, and Jones extended a hand to me.
“Kyra, do you want to get out of here?”
I glanced at Mom, who jerked her head in his direction, indicating that I should go. I nodded, and reached out to take his hand. He pulled me to my feet and wrapped an arm around my waist, before letting his hand come to rest on my bump.
“You’re getting so big,” he murmured, and shot one last look around the table before he guided me out of the restaurant and towards a waiting taxi. As soon as we were inside it, he turned to me.
“Kyra, I’m so sorry. If you’ll just let me explain.” I pressed a finger to his lips -- cheesy, I know, but all I needed at that moment was him. Not excuses, not reasons, not anything but his company. He stared at me, waiting for me to explain.
“You got a hotel room?” I asked, and he nodded.
“Let’s go there,” I suggested. “And we can talk about everything else in the morning.”
He pulled me closer, and suddenly our lips were touching. The cab driver rolled up the partition between us and left us to make out in the back of the cab. I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed being with him like this, missed the way his arms felt around me.
His tongue slipped into my mouth, and his hands skimmed down my back to cup my ass. The bump touched his stomach, and the feeling -- new, strange, but decidedly obvious -- sent shivers down my spine.
Soon enough, we arrived at the hotel, and Jones paid the driver and we bundled into the elevator towards his room. He slipped behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist, leaning down to kiss my neck as his hands explored the contours of my bump. We leaped apart as the doors opened, like a pair of teenagers, but there was no one there. We both laughed at our guilty consciences, and Jones hurried me down the hall towards his room.
In this kind of small town, we didn’t have to worry about the paparazzi following- and we made the most of that with a heavy make-out session right against the door, before another resident opened one down the hall and made us jump. Jones fumbled in his pocket for the keycard and opened the door, hustling me inside while I giggled with excitement.
“God, I missed you,” Jones murmured against my mouth as he pulled me towards the bed and down on top of him. I straddled him at once, leaning down to cup his head in my hands so I could kiss him once more - his familiar scent, the weight of his body beneath my own, it was all so…normal. And, yet, at the same time I felt a jolt of arousal between my legs as he tugged lightly on my hair and made me moan. I could feel him growing hard, and arched my back I could better press my hips against him. How long had it been? A month, maybe a little more? But in that moment, it felt like nothing short of an eternity.
He flipped me on to my back and pushed my dress up, hooking his fingers around my panties and pulling them down so I was completely exposed. He kissed the inside of my thigh gently before he slid two fingers into me. I closed my eyes so I could fully give myself over to the sensation, my pussy already beginning to flood with wetness.
“You feel so good,” Jones looked up at me just as I opened my eyes, and our gaze met for a single second. It was blisteringly hot, so much so that Jones couldn’t resist climbing back on top of me and kissing me once more. To my surprise, he wrapped his hands around my waist and pulled me upwards so that we were both upright. I squealed a little, but he soon silenced me with another kiss.
He carried me over to the wall opposite the bed and pressed me up against the beige wallpaper as I wrapped my arms around his shoulders, clinging on for dear life. The strength of him, the power, was such a turn-on, and I couldn’t help but linger on it for a moment as I ran my hands down his arms and across his shoulders.
With one arm still wrapped around my waist, he undid his pants and slid down his boxers; I slipped my legs around him, so I could feel his erection pressing up against me.
“You want this?” he panted into my ear, and all I could manage in response was a nod.
He positioned himself at the entrance to my pussy, taking his time, making sure I was ready -- and then, in one swift motion, he thrust up inside of me, forcing a moan out from between my lips.
“I’d forgotten how good you felt,” I murmured in his ear, before catching his lobe between my teeth and tugging gently. He growled in response, the best he could come up with given the circumstances, and let me down further on to his cock so I could feel every inch of him inside of me.
I pressed my head back against the wall behind us and did my best not to cry out with pleasure- we’d probably pissed off the neighbors enough as it was.
I did my best to grind my hips down and pull my legs back so I could get him as deep inside me as humanely possible; I had never craved someone the way I craved him at that moment, never been so desperate to feel him inside me. Everything since we’d met have been so intense, and this was no different. My body was tensing, finally ready to release after all those weeks of waiting and when it hit me, it almost took me off my feet.
My orgasm wracked through my body, even though I didn’t make a sound; it left me shuddering in Jones’ arms, gripping on to his back for some kind of support as he continued to thrust inside of me. I knew he could feel it, as he picked up the pace to match the speed at which my pussy clenched around his erection- and, a few moments later, I felt him reach his own release inside of me with a small, gritted-teeth cry.
He staggered away from the wall, kissing me hard, and we both collapsed on to the bed in a giant heap. We lay there in silence for a few seconds before he leaned over and brushed away a strand of hair from my face with a smile.
“Good to see you again,” he propped himself up on one elbow and raised his eyebrows.
“Same goes,” I smiled, wanting to stay awake but finding that my eyes were already drifting shut. As he leaned forward to plant a kiss on my forehead, I felt unconsciousness take me, and happily slipped into its embrace for the time being.
Chapter Eight
By the time my eyes fluttered open, the watery early morning sunlight was filtering through the windows. It couldn’t have been later than eight, but Jones was already up, standing by the balcony door and staring out over the smattering of buildings beyond. I lay there for a moment, not wanting to disturb him, savoring the chance to wake up with him like this -- it was so new but so welcome after all the time I’d spent away from him. In reality, it had only been a few weeks, but it felt like a lifetime. And I wasn’t going to waste another moment.
“Good morning,” I murmured, and he turned around and smiled upon seeing that I was awake.
“Well, hello there,” he threw himself back down in bed next to me, making the whole mattress bounce. I couldn’t help but laugh as he crawled towards me and put his arms around my waist, pulling me on top of him to kiss me.
“Ugh, I have morning breath,” I twisted my head away from, but he darted forward and planted a quick kiss on the corner of my mouth.
“You taste pretty good to me,” he shot back playfully, and I la
id my head on his chest and closed my eyes. I could so easily just stay here for the rest of the day, pretending that nothing else was happening…but memories of the evening before were forcing their way into my brain, and I knew that my family would probably be demanding an explanation by now. I sighed heavily, and looked up at him.
“What is it?” He asked, wrinkling his brow.
“Just…” I tried to find a way to phrase it correctly. “I don’t want to go home, that’s all.”
“I feel you,” he agreed. “I’m in the same ball park.”
“Why did you come back?” The words had fallen from my mouth before I could stop them, and I immediately went to take them back- but instead, forced myself to let them sit between us. I deserved an explanation, and besides, he had been all too happy to offer one yesterday before I pounced on him.
“I…” He lightly rolled me off of him, and sat up so he could look me in the eye. “I never should have let you leave in the first place.”
I stayed silent, meeting his gaze, waiting for him to continue.
“I know I should have dealt with it better,” he went on, talking slowly, as though picking out his words with care. “But I was so shocked. I had no idea what…I mean, how are you supposed to react to something like that?”
“I know,” I bowed my head, acknowledging how hard this must have been for him. “I went through the same thing, but it wasn’t as though I could kick that knowledge out of my brain like you.”
“Hey, I didn’t kick you out,” he protested. “I just…didn’t stop you from going. And that made me feel bad enough, trust me.”
“How did you find me?” It suddenly hit me how strange it was that he had come across me in the restaurant like that.
“I had your address, thanks to David,” he explained, “So I went there and I couldn’t find you. So when I was going through some of my old messages from David, I saw that he was complaining about going to a family meal with you at an Italian restaurant in town, and it just happened to be exactly a year from the day, so…”
He shrugged.
“I tried it, and I saw you guys there and overheard all the bullshit they were feeding you, and I had to jump in.”
“So David was actually good for something,” I remarked flippantly. “There’s a surprise.”
“Nah, he’s a good-for-nothing bastard,” Jones shook his head. “Just occasionally useful, that’s all.”
“Agreed,” I nodded emphatically, and it hit me that this talk of David wasn’t upsetting or irritating me like it had been before.
“You know, I’m so glad he left me at the altar,” I admitted. Jones turned, his eyebrows raised.
“Oh yeah?”
“It was way too soon,” I shook my head. “I mean, we’d been together…so long, and neither of us had experienced anything else. We were idiots to think that we’d been lucky enough to find the one in high school. It happens, yeah, but we were just too pig-headed to accept that it might not have for us.”
Jones smiled to himself, but there was something else there, too- something I couldn’t quite read.
“What is it?” I prompted him, and he shook his head. I nudged him with my foot, trying to get it out of him, and eventually he turned to me and let out a small sigh.
“I’m just pretty sure I met the person I’m supposed to be with in high school,” he met my gaze, and my heart lurched up in my chest. My mouth hung open stupidly.
“Are you talking…are you talking about…” I repeated, and he took my hand.
“Yeah,” he answered the question I had never gotten out. “I am.”
I closed my eyes and raised my eyebrows; this was a lot, but I knew exactly what he meant. I had been feeling the same way about him since we started hanging out at his apartment; our connection was electric, our lives meshing together well despite their differences. It just felt…right.
“I think I knew that in high school, too,” he went on. “But David was the one to ask you out first, so I backed off.”
“And let me waste my time with that asshole?” I teased. Even though David leaving me had left me feeling as though the world had shifted on its axis, thinking back on it now, it seemed so obvious that things had to happen that way. We were both happier now, no doubt-- well, that was me being kind, as I couldn’t have given less of a fuck whether or not he was happy. I just knew that this was how things were meant to work out between Jones and I, and they had finally come to fruition after a false start. Jones interlocked my fingers with his, and I felt a tingle run up my spine.
“Sorry about that,” he tilted his head at me. “Bro code, and all that.”
“You chose the bro code over me?” I teased, and he held his hands up.
“Hey, I was sixteen,” he protested. “I didn’t know there was much more to life than the bro code.”
I smiled, and he pulled me into his chest. Suddenly there was a knock at the door, making me jump.
“Who’s that?” I sat up straight, but Jones smoothed out my hair and spoke in a soothing tone.
“I ordered room service,” he explained, getting to his feet and grabbing a robe. He opened the door, exchanged a few words with the person outside, and came in carrying a tray.
“You want to eat outside?” He asked. I glanced through the large windows, and saw the sun beginning to rise, burning off the last few curls of the morning cold. I nodded.
“Why not?”
We sat out, wrapped up in robes, and went to town on all the food that Jones had ordered; tea, coffee, pancakes, fruit, croissants, toast. I hadn’t realized how starving I was, having skipped dinner the night before. Once I was satiated -- and trust me, that too an impressively long time -- I sat back in my seat and looked over at Jones. Okay, there were some things that needed to be said here.
“When are you going back?” I asked, my voice small. I didn’t want to have to imagine him leaving, not so soon, but this had obviously been some kind of desperate mission of romance, and I couldn’t imagine he’d be let off from training that easily.
“Tomorrow,” he admitted, and my heart sank. He took my hand reassuringly, squeezed, and then spoke again.
“And I’d like you to come with me.”
“Huh?”
“The way your family were speaking to you back there…” he trailed off, apparently too annoyed to go on. “It’s your decision, but I’d love it if you didn’t have to put up with that shit. And maybe…it would be easier to raise the baby together if you were a little closer. I can’t leave the city, but if you like…”
“What, would I be moving in with you?” My voice was higher than I had expected. I was excited at the prospect, but nerves were nagging at the edge of my brain; I wanted to take this slowly, wanted to take my time.
“I was going to set you up with an apartment in the city,” he replied casually, as if offering to buy me a place was nothing.
“Seriously?”
“Yeah,” he nodded. “I know it’s a lot, but I can’t ask you to drop everything and move across the country for my convenience and not offer to pay for at least, well, all of it.”
“I have some savings put away,” I waved my hand. “And you know I wouldn’t let you pay for everything by yourself. I’m a self-sufficient woman, I’ll have you know.”
“Oh, I know,” he flashed me a smile. “Just that the prices in the city are stupid-expensive and I’ve got all these earnings that aren’t going anywhere.”
“You can help out,” I responded carefully. “If you want.”
“I do,” he confirmed. “But don’t worry, I’m not going to interfere. I just want you and the baby closer, that’s all.”
“That sounds pretty fucking good,” I nodded with a sigh, draining my fruit juice and placing the glass back of the table. “I don’t think I can bear it here another day.”
“I know, I heard the shit your family--“
“And not just them,” I cut across him, glad to finally have someone to bitch about this t
o. “Everywhere I go, it’s people looking at me like they’re embarrassed for me. Everyone knows about David and the wedding, and you can be sure that if my family knows about the pregnancy, now everyone else does too.”
“I forgot how bad this place could be,” he groaned. “I remember when we were in high school, everyone knew everything about everybody.”
“Yeah, it’s still pretty much just as bad,” I agreed. “Except that instead of who’s throwing up their lunch, it’s who got dumped by their fiancé at the altar. I think that little escapade provided gossip for this place into infinity.”
“Probably,” he shrugged. “So you’d be happy to get out?”
“Hell, yes,” I nodded. “And that money that we were supposed to use for our honeymoon, it’s got to go somewhere.”
“Well, you will be getting out of town,” he pointed out. “So, I suppose it’s not being entirely misused.”
“Exactly,” I raised a new glass in a mock-toast towards him and took another sip. “God, I can’t wait till I can have champagne with this OJ again. That’s the one thing I miss about not being pregnant.”
“Well, not long to go now,” he glanced towards my stomach, even though my bump was hidden under swathes of dressing gown.
“Well, five months,” I pointed out, placing my hand on my bump for comfort. It was small but certainly there- I wondered how big it would get over the next twenty weeks. Mom had been tiny, but then, her sister had grown into the size of a boat over the course of both her pregnancies.
“It’s going to go so fast, I promise,” he smiled. “By the time we’ve got you all moved in and set up down there—“
“And then all the time I’m going to spend in bed with you,” I raised my eyebrows at him playfully. “It’ll fly right by.”
“Is sex good for the baby?” He looked confused. “Sorry, I’m so clueless about all this stuff.”
“I don’t know about the baby, but it’s good for me.” I fluttered my lashes up at him in an exaggerated tease. “And I’ll lend you all the baby books I own. You can read up on everything before she comes.”
